Mum slams Amazon delivery for 'ruining' six-year-old daughter's Christmas
If there's one thing most parents can agree on at Christmas, it's that trying to keep presents a secret from their kids isn't always easy.
Choosing the perfect present for your children, that you know will absolutely make their face light up when they open it - and ideally doesn't cost the earth - is one of the best parts of the festive season. But for one mum, the whole thing was messed up by the careless delivery of a gift for her daughter.
The mum claims the Amazon delivery totally ruined the surprise after she returned to her home one Wednesday evening with her daughter, only to be greeted by an unexpected sight.
Back in 2019, Joanna Lovell came home to find the pink and white Barbie ambulance she had ordered for her daughter Jasmine was sat on the doorstep, with no packaging surrounding the box.
"When we got home there it was on the doorstep for all to see - and my daughter's eyes nearly popped out of her head with excitement when she saw it," the Hull Daily Mail reporter wrote at the time, as a warning to other parents.
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"I'd had no chance to hide it because although I'd had an alert on the app to say it had been delivered, I never for one moment expected it to arrive as it is, with just an address label stuck to the side."
When Amazon was asked about the revealing delivery a spokesperson for the company noted its website website states the item arrives in packaging "which reveals what's inside". However, If you order the item off a phone, the message is not displayed.
Joanna continued: "I used my phone and at no point throughout the transaction was this message displayed. Having spoken with Amazon today I've gone back online to re-order it to check if I missed it and I hadn't.
There was no hiding what the box contained (Hull Daily Mail / MEN Media)"When using your phone to order, if you click 'buy now' you will not see the message. To see the message on your phone you would have to scroll right down, past the 'Add to basket' and 'Buy Now' buttons - which I had absolutely no need to do.
"It is only if you are using the website on a desktop computer that the message about packaging is displayed on the same screen under the 'Buy it Now' button - but even then it can easily be missed because it does not stand out at all."
The lack of packaging led Jasmine to throw some difficult questions her mother's way. "Jasmine's excitement soon turned to a puzzled look when she began asking my why a toy she had put on her letter to Father Christmas just days before, had arrived at our house out of the blue," the mum explained.
"She reminded me we haven't even posted her letter to Santa yet, so how could he possibly know she wanted it and why had it arrived early? So. Many. Questions. Being totally caught on the hop I ended up saying it must be a mistake and had no idea how it got there, so you can only imagine her disapointment.
"I could have just said I ordered it for her as a surprise for being so well behaved recently - but A) she's a being a bit of a diva at the moment and B) it cost me £39.99 - and my mid-year treats don't usually cost me that much. Plus I'd have to do the same for my son, so I'd be £80 down through no fault of my own."
Joanna was in a bind as to whether to give the gift to her daughter or not (Hull Daily Mail / MEN Media)Frustrated by the dilemma, she wrote: "If she opens it on Christmas Day, the magic of Christmas will be ruined, because she will remember seeing it. But she will be disappointed if she doesn't get it. It's top of her list as she loves playing with it at her cousin's house.
"So thanks a bunch Amazon. As a parent you do the best to keep the magic of Christmas alive for as long as you can - then Amazon come along and clumsily ruin it. You don't have to be a genius to work out that items like this, ordered in mid November, are probably a Christmas gift, so why there's an option for it to arrive without packaging seems pointless to me.
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"Not only that, but I could hardly give it to her with a giant label on the side with my address on it! It's meant to come on Santa's sleigh." Joanna called on Amazon to change its packaging policy so more festive treats aren't ruined.
"Any notices about packaging should be on the listing itself, and repeated again on the purchasing pages," the campaigning journalist argued. "In fact you should not be able to buy the product until you have acknowledged you have read the message about packaging.
"The message should be visible for those using a phone to order - displayed before the 'Buy it Now' button. Yours sincerely, parents everywhere." Amazon isn't the only retailer that sometimes ships toys in see-through packaging, with Smyths also issuing a warning that Click and Collect orders will be placed in plastic bags, with what's inside clearly visible. Now in 2023, Amazon shoppers have the option to choose their delivery option - including to go with no packaging.
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